It has come and gone ever since and I'm now way further beyond that where I don't give it much credence either way. Answer: It was only humane from Melanie's skewed, immature-at-the-time perspective, believing the cat would be killed instantly. (01:08:15) Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie, when Melanie is on the beach with Jake and she . I was not someone who yearned to be famous and there was a point where I did see a shift. Use them in commercial designs under lifetime, perpetual & worldwide rights. The coonhound cemetery was on Moore Street in Crawfordville and the bar was located at Heavy's Barbecue near the town. Thank you for visiting! "[13] "The line 'We all did what we could do' is sort of ambiguous," Al Kooper notes, "'We tried to get Wallace out of there' is how I always thought of it. He was a Jefferson County Commissioner and is credited with helping bring the University of Alabama Medical Center to Birmingham. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. (Insider contacted Lynskey to be interviewed for this story but didn't get a response.) In Sweet Home Alabama, she's a poor Southern lass who reinvents herself as a Big Apple socialitethen finds it almost impossible to go home again. qatar to toronto flight status. Witherspoon landed the lead role ahead of Charlize Theron, who was also considered, and the movie which co-stars Josh Lucas and Patrick Dempsey then plays out as something of a fairy tale. Answer: She had a miscarriage. Since "Sweet Home Alabama" opened in theaters Tennant made another rom-com hit, "Hitch," starring Will Smith and Eva Mendes. I totally remember you.'. Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback. Show 1 more answer. Literally, Nina Jacobson, head of Buena Vista Pictures, walked up the aisle before the lights had even come up and said to me, "We're reshooting the ending.". They put in the script a dog who dives for a bone feeling it was a good example of small-town America but the movie dog never wanted to go in the water. Sweet Home Alabama was the first film allowed to shoot in New York City after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Lucas: She rung my bell a couple of times. And then Reese called me and said, "You are never going to believe this, they sent me your script! ", Tennant has written a treatment for a sequel to "Sweet Home Alabama.". So I enjoyed Witherspoon and the local color, but I am so very tired of the underlying premise. Where are those four characters now: Melanie, Jake, Andrew, and Melanie Lynskey's character, Lurlynn? She was just jokin around. D In Birmingham they C love the G Gov'nor F Boo C hoo D hoo ! But poor Josh was whacked a good number of times. My kids were going through college so it got me thinking about a new generation of kids going to school and young love and what that would do to parents when they see their kids being real grown-ups. Lucas would be so serious in some takes that Tennant would call him "Ralph," referring to the actor Ralph Fiennes, so he would loosen up. Filming in New York City. In an interview with Garden & Gun, Rossington explained the writing process: "I had this little riff. That I wasn't working. Tennant: That's a scene you don't expect in this kind of movie. They were like, "What did you do?" Sweet Home Alabama is a romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon, Patrick Dempsey and Josh Lucas. This is why Reese says, "People need a passport to come down here." Reese Witherspoon terrific heartfelt performance makes this movie work. Melanie visits Jake, who has repeatedly refused to sign divorce papers over the years since she left for New York. Sweet home Alabama, oh, sweet home baby Actors know what works for them and I needed him to loosen up a little bit. Melanie reconciles with her friends and learns that after she split with Jake, he had followed her to New York to win her back. I was like, "Who are you?". Lynyrd Skynyrd. Jake announces, "Melanie Carmichael is dead" but then a few seconds later he says, "Long live Felony Melanie." The film ultimately ends with Witherspoons character staying with her ex-husband, and the pair of them get married again. Now Watergate does not bother me 3:58. I keep hearing that others from the movie would absolutely love to do it. Add to favorites. And then "Legally Blonde" came out, and I got a call from the studio and they were like, "What do you think of Reese Witherspoon?" Sweet Home Alabama characters were essayed by Hollywood's top actors. Contact me | Privacy policy | Join the mailing list | Links. The site's critics consensus reads: "Reese Witherspoon is charming enough, but the road to Alabama is well-traveled. And I think that was her first on-camera kiss. SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER, FIRST TAKE, Worry, Darling: September Box Office Plummets to Worst Levels in 25 Years, The Munsters Review: Rob Zombie Loves These Misfit Monsters but Fails to Make Them Funny. Intimidated by the city and her success, he returned home to make something of himself first. Lucas: Reese was very unsure of me and had no reason not to be. All rights reserved. In a sequence of them Melanie's parents are "scared" by a punk with a pierced tongue, Mel's co-worker from the beginning of the movie, who comments on her accent when she dreams. Jake pulls her away and tells her to go home, back to New York City. Tennant: Melanie slapped Jake for a variety of reasons. Ed King, the song's cowriter, contradicted his former bandmates in a 2009 post on his website. Wanneer u onze sites en apps gebruikt, gebruiken we, gebruikers authenticeren, veiligheidsmaatregelen toepassen en spam en misbruik voorkomen, en, gepersonaliseerde advertenties en content weergeven op basis van interesseprofielen, de effectiviteit meten van gepersonaliseerde advertenties en content, en, onze producten en services ontwikkelen en verbeteren. In the scene where Jake is driving Andrew to find Melanie, he tells the story about the cat. In this fluff ball of a fairy tale, Reese Witherspoon is Melanie Carmichael, a rising New York fashion designer from humble Southern roots who is forced to choose between two Prince Charmings. [3], Roger Ebert, critic for the Chicago Sun Times, awarded it three-out-of-four stars, commenting, "It is a fantasy, a sweet, light-hearted fairy tale with Reese Witherspoon at its center. "[14], Music historians examining the juxtaposition of invoking Richard Nixon and Watergate after Wallace and Birmingham note that one reading of the lyrics is an "attack against the liberals who were so outraged at Nixon's conduct" while others interpret it regionally: "the band was speaking for the entire South, saying to northerners, we're not judging you as ordinary citizens for the failures of your leaders in Watergate; don't judge all of us as individuals for the racial problems of southern society."[15]. Because you can leer, you know, and because people definitely have the full thing, and with that you can over do it. A young woman who has reinvented herself as a New York City socialite must return home to Alabama to obtain a divorce from her husband after seven years of separation. ", Tennant: I have done two movies with Josh, I love Josh. My memory was that Andy felt I'm the guy and then he really went to bat for me. Tell the truth 31 What does Andrew's mother do for a living in "Sweet Home Alabama"? She and Jake have a heart-to-heart, and Melanie realises why he never signed their divorce papers. Melanie's New York friends arrive for the event. "Hello Mr. Tennant, is there anything you need me to do?" But the main thing that happened when we were down there was we were having lunch and we heard these booms in the distance and it was like, "What the fuck is that?" He claimed that the song was originally intended as the unabashed defense of Alabama, and even Wallace, that the song appears to be: {{blockquote|I can understand where the "boo boo boo" would be misunderstood. * Sales figures based on certification alone. There was an intensity of pain and past and history. I haven't seen her in years. It's the "almost" part that makes the movie work. I don't know if anybody else wanted me, and I mean Disney (which released the movie by its then theatrical distribution arm, Buena Vista Pictures) and everyone from the power positions. Add a different answer. The 2002 romantic comedy "Sweet Home Alabama" ends predictably enough, with Reese Witherspoon's character matched with the right guy but the original ending to the film threw audiences a . Everyone had passed on it in town. You can see tucked into the top of her left boot the battery pack for her microphone and the wires going up her skirt. The reaction of Melanie's mother at the supposed death of her daughter apparently upset the test audiences so much, that the production crew reshot the whole reception scene, minus the practical joke. With a $35.6 million opening weekend, the movie held the record for the best-ever September opening for 10 years. There's a flash of lightning and it cuts to a wedding reception. What is humane about blowing it up and if it was gonna die of cancer all those years ago why is it still roaming around town? She is forced to return home after becoming engaged to a man named Andrew and must procure a divorce from her childhood sweetheart and estranged husband, Jake. Sweet Home Alabama is a 2002 American romantic comedy film directed by Andy Tennant. Jake and Melanie do this as a practical joke. Ed Araquel/Netflix. It's the little picking part and I kept playing it over and over when we were waiting on everyone to arrive for rehearsal. You can be a stranger in a strange land if you're not from the South. At the end of that scene, where I say, "Go home," originally we shot it where Reese slaps me and then walks away. Lucas is from Arkansas and Witherspoons from Tennessee, but theyve since moved away and lost most of their accents. Lucas: Absolutely I remember that. 26 3. According to Rolling Stone, he's never played "Alabama" again since. I'm in many ways a lot like him. So we drove out to witness the reenactment and it was such a crazy thing that you can't make up and we had to put it in the movie. Buy our Film Stories and Film Stories Junior print magazineshere. Andy just kept having my back. Andrew is engaged to a girl named Erin Vanderbilt. I think he was a stock-car driver. Sweet Home Alabama is a 2002 American romantic comedy film directed by Andy Tennant. Tennant: I was given the script; it wasn't very good. The supporting cast includes Fred Ward, Mary Kay Place, Jean Smart, Candice Bergen, Ethan Embry, and Melanie Lynskey. The clips shown in the credits of the movie; is the child featured in their now happy lives, Witherspoons' daughter Ava? But Melanie's past holds many secrets, including Jake (Josh Lucas), the . she would say to me. "I don't care about your past, all I want to know is if there's a place for me in your future.". Print. He later returns, saying he still wants to marry her, and the wedding is immediately set in motion. Reese Witherspoon was just coming off the success of "Legally Blonde" when she agreed to play the southern troublemaker turned New York City fashion designer Melanie Carmichael. Alabama Crimson Tide "Sweet Home Alabama" Iron Bowl Alabama vs. Auburn 2012 I was a bit terrified, to say the least. View All Credits 1 693.6K 126. What do they say? It was funny on paper and then when we shot it, when Josh says "Melanie Carmichael is dead" and you cut to Mary Kay with that reaction that her daughter is dead it was just like, "Who thought this was funny?" She can be found in the finished version of the film at the end when Melanie is shown a newspaper wedding announcement during the closing credits. That led to me going to "director jail." Why don't we do a love triangle where the love choices are between a great guy and the right guy? In the original draft of Sweet Home Alabama there was a character with an entire subplot named Erin Vanderbilt. ), Lucas: I frankly haven't run into Reese since making the movie. Although the film takes place primarily in the fictional town of Pigeon Creek, near a fictional Greenville, Alabama, it was mostly shot in Georgia. All this stuff boiling. 30 Melanie and Jake have a _________ at the end of the movie. Sweet Home Alabama was the first film allowed to shoot in New York City after the September 11, 2001 attacks. You can unsubscribe at any time. . But I was terrified I was going to be fired before we even started. Nonetheless, Clayton was persuaded to take the job, to "let the music be [her] protest. Arthur Bremer may or may not have been a yankee but he sure destroyed whatever chance Wallace had to be president. Answer: Mayor of New York. Jake announces, "Melanie Carmichael is dead" but then a few seconds later he says, "Long live Felony Melanie." "We all did what WE could do!" paul pion cantor net worth. Spoiler warning: the ending of Sweet Home Alabama is directly discussed towards the end of this article. In 1975, Van Zant said: "The lyrics about the governor of Alabama were misunderstood. On a beach in the fictional town of Pigeon Creek, Alabama, 10-year-old Jake Perry and Melanie Smooter inspect the result of lightning striking sand. "When we showed it to a test audience the whole room was just like, 'What the fuck!'" he said. A young woman who has reinvented herself as a New York City socialite must return home to Alabama to obtain a divorce from her husband after seven years of separation. She is a director's dream. Sweet Home Alabama. [5], The song remains a staple in southern and classic rock, and is arguably the band's signature song. Ridley Scott discusses The Last Duel box office failure, superhero films, Revisiting the 1970s films of Michael Caine: Pulp (1972), The 1950s movie that became the most expensive comedy ever, Revisiting Bandslam, and how it sets itself apart as a teen musical, Quiz Answers: 2nd September 2022 (Inside Number 10), Podcast: in conversation with Aline Brosh McKenna, Remembering The Outsiders: a video Film Stories, By continuing you accept the privacy policy. Charlize Theron was attached to play the lead role before Reese Witherspoon. But things get complicated once Melanie comes face-to-face with Jake again. There were moments where I felt it was an incredible blessing and other times, like that paparazzi incident, were terrifying. Free or royalty-free photos and images. See production, box office & company info, Reese Witherspoon sweet performance makes this work. "Sweet Home Alabama" follows Melanie as she travels to her Alabama hometown to finalize her divorce from her childhood sweetheart, Jake (Lucas), so she can marry Andrew (Patrick Dempsey), the son of the New York City mayor (Candice Bergen). What is humane about blowing it up and if it was gonna die of cancer all those years ago why is it still roaming around town? And then I went off to make "Anna and the King" (starring Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-fat, the 1999 movie received mixed reviews and stirred up controversy when the Thai government deemed it historically inaccurate).